The 2022 MLB season has come to a close. The Astros and the Phillies were the last of the remaining teams in the league. Many people predicted this game would go to a decisive Game 7. With the series ending in six games, it was still what most predicted as a competitive World Series. 

As for the teams competing in the series, one team had an up-and-down season; for the other, a season of expectations to win it all came to fruition.

The Phillies came into this postseason as a wild-card team. Their first opponent was the St. Louis Cardinals. Playing away at Busch Stadium, the Phillies took two of three from the Cards to sweep and win the series. For the Astros, they had a first-round bye as they had the best record in the American League standing at 106-56.

In the Divisional Series, the Phillies had to take on their divisional rivals, the Atlanta Braves, who won the NL East a couple days before the postseason even started. The Astros also had to take on their rivals, the Seattle Mariners. Both the Astros and Phillies took advantage of playing in their home stadiums. The Phillies took down the Braves, winning the series 3-1. As for the Astros, they had a walkoff homerun in Game 1 and took the next two to advance to the ALCS.

Both teams had to win one more series to advance to the World Series. Astros vs. Yankees and Phillies vs. Padres. The Astros got right down to business, destroying the Yankees in dominating fashion, sweeping them and clinching the AL pennant at Yankee Stadium. For the NLCS, it was a back-and-forth series as it looked like both teams had a shot at advancing to the World Series. As previously mentioned, the Phillies took advantage of playing at home, winning the series in five games with a clutch game-winning home run by Bryce Harper late in Game 5.

Now both teams are matched in the World Series. The most important series of the year. The series started in Houston, with both teams splitting games one and two. Then the Phillies came out strong in game three, shutting out the Astros and winning 7-0. In Game 4, the Astros made history by throwing the first ever combined no-hitter in postseason history. Then, after that game, they took off, winning the next two games and the World Series.

The Astros won their second world championship since 2017. For the Phillies, it was an unexpected run, but watch out for that team next year, as they may be in the postseason yet again.